The World Juniors are an exciting time as hockey fans get to see the future faces of the sport face off with national pride on the line. While the stakes are not as high in division one, the same idea holds as many teams are at the same level in the senior division, creating career-long rivalries. For Poland, this was a tournament to bury and move on. I can best explain how poor this tournament was for Poland in what I won’t post. I had planned on having a piece where a special guest who currently works behind the scenes in the NHL would break down what he liked, didn’t, and who stood out among Poland’s best prospects. Unfortunately, we chose to cancel that piece as everything about it was too negative and not the debut either wanted for the article. We will hopefully do something around the U18s later in the year. 

The tournament started for Poland with a familiar foe in Italy. Poland pulled off an upset win last year against Italy to avoid being relegated. Italy would get their payback with a 7-4 final despite being outshot 38-24. 

Ukraine was next, and after a competitive first period, they found an easy game with Poland. The eventual gold and promotion winner took control in the second period and cruised to a 3-0 win over Poland. 

Japan was on the calendar for game three. Both countries forgot to bring their defense to this one, as it would end 7-6 in overtime. Poland had a 6-5 late lead but would let it slip once the pressure was on. You would hope Poland would learn to finish and move on… 

This would bring on the easier part of the schedule, starting with host Estonia. Estonia is a rapidly improving program partly due to their connections with Finnish hockey. Still, they brought a very young roster to this tournament. They were the only country with an average age of under 18, 17.65, and had the five youngest players in this tournament. This was a tight one; through 50 minutes, Poland had the only goal. Petrażycki would then sneak one over Vladimirov’s glove to extend Poland’s lead to two. The clock would drop down to four minutes and 18 seconds remaining when Estonia got their first of the game. Still, Poland had the one-goal lead. They needed to play smart for the final four minutes. Instead, Poland would take two penalties, and at the end of the second powerplay, Estonia scored to tie it with 45 seconds left. A devastated Polish team returned to the ice and would allow one more Estonia goal with a second left to complete the collapse. 

This made the fifth and final match versus South Korea the relegation match. Poland had more energy left in a game between two beaten and struggling teams. They would win 2-1, sending South Korea to Division Two. Two years ago, Poland U20 beat South Korea 11-2.  

The Suite Life of Jakub and Jonasz

Let’s start with the positives of the tournament. The top line of Maksymilian Dawid, Jakub Hofman, and Jonasz Hofman were the saviors of team Poland. The Hofman twins were involved in over half of Poland’s 14 goals at the event. The line plays together for GKS Katowice in the top league, so it is no surprise they have developed a strong chemistry. There are some minor things to clean up in their games and they need to gain that shift to shift consistency. If they can find that next level, they should be moving up the Katowice lineup in a few years. 

The Battle In Net

I have long been hyping up Poland’s goaltending depth coming with the 2006 class. It was not a surprise to me that Poalnd elected to take two 2006 goalies and one 2007 goalie this year. Jakub Wieczorek and Igor Tyczynski split the starting role at the tournament, it seems Tycznski gained the edge by the tournament’s end. Wieczorek finished with a .889 save percentage, earning player of the game honors versus Ukraine. Tyczynski finished with a .854 SV% mark, earning player of the game honors vs. Japan and Estonia. The stats don’t do them justice, as they were let out to dry by the team in front of them plenty of times. They were not perfect, but I still saw the talent I had been hoping for at times. Of the two, Wiecrozek was the most consistent, while Tyczynski had a higher ceiling but also a much lower floor. 

The Cycle Repeats Itself

In 2022, Poland was up 3-2 on Estonia with less than four minutes to go. Estonia scored with 39 seconds to tie. They then scored 10 seconds into the over to beat Poland. Poland finished last but was not relegated due to the IIHF suspension of Belarus and Russia. 

In 2023, Poland was up 4-2 on Croatia with less than four minutes to go. Croatia scored twice in the final 90 seconds to tie the game, then they won it in the shootout. Poland finished fifth after an upset win over Italy on the final day, avoiding relegation. 

In 2025, Poland was up 2-0 on Estonia with less than four minutes to go. Estonia scored three goals in four minutes to win the game. Poland beat South Korea on the final day to avoid relegation. 

Many in the comments on forums and Facebook replies believe Poland blowing their lead against Estonia was a shocking or embarrassing loss. Unfortunately, it is a standard loss for Poland. When players don’t have great fundamentals or structure, they’re likely to crumble when the pressure is at its highest. That is all on coaching and the federation.  

Time for a Foreign Coach 

Artur Slusarczyk has led the U20 national team for three years during two stints. He has a 6th, 4th, and 5th place finish. He also led SMS PZHL Katowice during this time. He had excuses ready before the tournament in his lone comments to the media. But if Ukraine can boost its junior program while it is active at war and with a federation messier than PZHL, I don’t care about a couple of injuries for a program that can’t maintain the status quo. The performance results have been poor, and to me, it is hard to see the talent staying inside Poland developing. Most players are stagnant or regressing. Watching his players drown against Estonia and not having anything to offer them or having them ready for the final four minutes is the final straw. 

From 2013 to 2018 Poland U20 had foreign coaches in Russian Andrei Parfyonov, Swedish Torbjörn Johansson, and Canadian David Leger. That trio finished D1B with a gold, three silvers, and a bronze. Since 2019, Polish coaches have held the top job and come away with one silver medal in 2019, and have otherwise finished fourth or lower. Poland doesn’t have coaches with the appropriate training or experience to lift a team with poor development during its club seasons. If the U20 team wants to salvage their results, it is time to bring in another experienced foreign head coach who can get more out of the talent. 

What’s Next?

It is the question we always ask to end our five thoughts recap. I already posted a long piece about why Poland must change its junior program immediately earlier during the tournament. Simply put, the MHL has to be changed. Poland’s junior players have suffered since the combined U20 and second league started. The league is a mess, and I don’t see it preparing players properly for senior hockey in Poland, let alone Division One international hockey. 

For Poland U20 next year, they will be back in Division 1 Group B. Nine members of their roster this year will be aging off, which includes the top line of Dawid and the Hofman twins. Both goalies will be back, while Poland only loses two defensemen. Hungary will join the group after being relegated from Group A, and they will retain a few high-profile prospects that play in Sweden and Finland. Lithuania is coming up from Division 2 Group A after sweeping their group with a +34 goal differential. They only lose four players from their promotion-winning squad and will be a harder match-up than South Korea. 

Next year could be the year luck will finally run out for Poland. I just don’t see who could be making significant jumps to carry this team outside the goaltending duo, being able to steal games. Hopefully, Mateusz Majkowski will continue to develop in Czechia while Adam Sawicki plays more in the NCDC, which is part of the second tier of US junior hockey. Newcomers could include Matthew McGovern (Czechia U20), Olaf Zachariasz (SMS Katowice), Rafał Drabik (MOSM Tychy), and Oskar Laszkiewicz (SMS Katowice). 

Quick Thoughts 

• Krystian Lisowski is almost right there when it comes to being a really good player. He had some nice flashes, and his time in Finland is paying off. 
• Poland missed Blazej Chodor in this tournament. The injury left a hole in the Polish top four that no one was ready to fill. 
•  On the defense, I would have also liked to see Hubert Szarzynski or Kacper Niemczyk get a shot. 
• Adam Sawicki was another forward who had some nice moments. His complete game needs work, but his floor is likely a top-nine PHL forward. I hope he sticks with the Boston Jr. Rangers for another season in the NCDC.
• It was good to see national team great Mikolaj Lopuski behind the bench as an assistant coach in his IIHF staff debut. While I have a lot of criticism for the coaching job at this tournament, I have heard great things about his work with Akademia Hokejowa Wróbl.

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